News: Volunteers needed for Russell Lake National Public Lands Day Clean-Up Campaign

ELBERTON, Ga. - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Richard B. Russell Lake will celebrate National Public Lands Day this year with a cleanup campaign beginning Aug. 31 and concluding on Sept. 28, National Public Lands Day.

The Corps seeks volunteers to participate in cleanup activities on the shoreline and islands around Russell Lake.

Scout groups, civic organizations, church groups, businesses, schools, families, individuals and anyone else interested in volunteering should sign up by contacting the Russell Project Office at 800-944-7207. Volunteers can also sign up by emailing Park Ranger Ed Faust at Edmond.L.Faust@usace.army.mil

"We have identified several areas around the lake where we can direct volunteers to help us clean up, but we welcome people to pick up trash anywhere they would like to," said Julian George, park ranger. "We could especially use help from boaters who may like to help clean up islands and shoreline areas that are not easily accessible by land."

The Corps will provide volunteers with trash bags upon request and can arrange for pickup of bagged litter.

The Russell Lake Clean-Up Campaign is included in National Public Lands Day, a nationwide program coordinated by the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (NEETF).

National Public Lands Day began in 1994 with the idea that millions of Americans who use federal, state, and local public lands each year could spend a day volunteering their time to the land and their country.